Dr. Rock: Mallory Run, Loafer rock family connection Friday

Thursday

Bassist Tony Krasinski's trio will open for his son John Krasinski's slow-burn indie rock band for a can't-miss postmodern rock show at Sherlock's.

Sherlock’s features postmodern rock with an odd-but-true twist on Friday.

Local slow-burn indie rock band Mallory Run, with guitarist John Krasinski, will play the club for the first time this week. And there to kick things off will be the pop-playing trio Loafer, with bassist and father Tony Krasinski.

Yes, it’s family night at Sherlock’s — dad’s band opening for his son’s band.

“I don’t know who’s more excited,” John Krasinski said. “I was immediately on board, and the guys have never had a chance to play with my dad. So, it was just a really cool opportunity.”

For Tony Krasinski, this was a long time coming.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to play a show with one of my kids,” said Tony Krasinski, who played in the Norb’s Bar house band The Bedrocks — and later The Shrugs — long before he became a father. Except for a brief set at Dr. Rock’s retirement party in January 2016, he hasn’t played at Sherlock’s in more than 20 years.

“I just think it’s kind of ironic,” Tony Krasinski said. “I was playing Sherlock’s when I was Johnny’s age, and now my band gets to play with his band when he’s the age I was, playing there back in the day.”

In addition to John Krasinski, who joined two years ago, Mallory Run includes singer Dan McClune, drummer Tommy Lipo and New Jersey brothers Joe and Albert Kotala, who play guitar and bass respectively. Joe Kotala had attended Edinboro University, where he and Lipo met. Then when Mallory Run needed a new bassist, brother Albert Kotala moved to join the band.

“They started out as a pop-punk band and we’ve kind of been progressing more toward an indie-rock vibe,” John Krasinski said. “Like darker and just serious and heavy.”

The band is signed with Louisiana-based label Wilhelm Records and will release “Spin,” a new EP, in March.

“It’s been a long journey to get these songs out,” John Krasinski said. “We put out the first EP, and we toured. Then we went through all the member changes. So, by the time we found Joe, it was about November or late October. We wrote three really great songs and were really happy with them, so we decided to book studio time. And by the time we had studio time, we had found a label and written the other two songs.”

Krasinski, 23, wrote “Marigold,” the album’s first single.

“We just did a music video for it,” he said. “(The song) is just about being stuck in the week-to-week working environment and like growing tired of the monotony of it all and wanting to just push out and do what you love.”

Mallory Run has opened for some notable bands, including Comeback Kid, Hawthorne Heights and We Came as Romans. After the Sherlock’s show, the band will play with Handguns, Light Years and more than a dozen other bands at Amity Fest II on Jan. 27 at Basement Transmissions.

While John Krasinski plays original music like his dad did years ago, Loafer zeroes in on current and recent Top 40 hits by Twenty One Pilots, The Chainsmokers, Rihanna, Harry Styles, Weezer, Bruno Mars, Niall Horan and more. They also learn new songs constantly: “Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man and “Strip That Down” by Liam Payne could be in the setlist for Friday.

“We’re like 100 percent digital now,” Tony Krasinski said. “No more acoustic. We’re using all cutting-edge technology, so no amplifiers, no stage monitors. We have a digital mixer, and almost all our tunes have backing tracks we program ourselves.”

Loafer uses stage names, so guitarist Tom O’Camb is Tommy O’Sheeran while drummer John Caruso is Johnny “Beaumont” Cleaver and bassist Krasinski goes by Tony K. The trio is clearly having a blast playing pop songs you wouldn’t expect an older generation to like, let alone learn. But they do capitulate to age in one regard.

“We’re opening for them because we can’t stay up until 1 a.m. anymore,” Tony Krasinski cracked. "That’s way past our bedtimes."

HEAR IT

Mallory Run, with opener Loafer, plays on Friday, 9 p.m., at Sherlock’s, 508 State St. To hear music by Mallory Run, visit http://bit.ly/2mBYSUP.